This paper summarises a study that looked at the factors that influence both energy and water efficiency for commercial office buildings. Using NABERS ratings for both of these, comparisons were made of various grades of buildings, with the ...

This note was reviewed and approved for currency in November 2018. This paper is the first of a two part paper intended to introduce the concept of permaculture and urban farming to built environment professionals. These papers seek to challenge the ...

This note, originally published in November 2000, was reviewed by John Greenwood in September 2005. This paper examines the issue of solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and its impact on public health in Australia, which has the highest rate of skin ...

Residential buildings account for around 13 per cent of the Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, and numerous studies have identified energy efficiency in residential buildings as one of the most cost effective approaches to climate change ...

This note was reviewed and retained for legacy in September 2018.  This note deals with the methods and tools for assessing the environmental performance of a building design in the early design phase of a building project. It describes building ...

This note highlights some of the fundamental concepts that underpin biophilic design and introduces designers to some basic principles and tools that can help develop relevant capabilities within practices to create environments that truly connect ...

International research and product development has resulted from partnerships between the research community and the world's leading glass, window and skylight companies.  This has led to many new options in the design of windows, skylights and ...

As an introduction to both Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing, this article describes GIS and explains its components and applications. The basic components of remote sensing such as the electromagnetic spectrum, spectral, ...

Water heating accounts for around a quarter of household energy use in Australia. Low-energy water heating systems can reduce energy used for heating water by 60 to 80 per cent – or more – depending on the system type and location. This paper ...

This note was reviewed and approved for currency by the author in December 2018.  Thermal mass can be effectively employed in buildings to increase occupants' thermal comfort conditions. This paper seeks to clarify the ways in which this can be ...